Ohio voters are divided 45 - 46 percent in their support for a bill before the State Legislature that
would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, according to a Quinnipiac University
poll released today.

Republicans support the measure 63 - 31 percent, while Democrats are opposed by a
mirror-image 62 - 30 percent, with independent voters split 47 - 46 percent, the independent
Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. There is no gender or age gap.

Support for the bill drops as income increases, going from 49 - 43 percent in favor among
those making less than $30,000 per year, to 52 - 43 percent opposed among those making more
than $100,000. White voters with a college degree oppose the measure 56 - 37 percent while
white voters without a degree support it 51 - 41 percent. White Catholics support the measure
54 - 36 percent and white Protestants back it 53 - 40 percent.

But voters say 72 - 23 percent stop hydro-fracking until there are further studies on its
impact. Support for the shutdown is strong among all groups. Voters say 43 - 16 percent that
hydro-fracking will damage the environment, with 40 percent who don't know.

"Abortion remains perhaps the most divisive issue in the nation and there is an almost
even split among Ohio voters over the fetal heartbeat bill," said Peter A. Brown, assistant
director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Despite a partisan split over the issue,
where Republicans support the measure 2-1 while Democrats oppose it 2-1, lower income voters,
who tend to be Democrats, support the bill while high-income voters, who tend to be Republican,
oppose it."

Fifty percent of Ohio voters say abortion should be legal in all or most cases while 44
percent say it should be illegal in all or most cases.

"Ohio votes are conflicted on hydro-fracking. They recognize the economic value of
drilling for fossil fuels in the state, but are worried about potential environmental risks of the
specific technique - hydro-fracking," Brown added.

U.S. Senate Race

Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown holds a 47 - 32 percent reelection lead over
Republican Josh Mandel, compared to 49 - 34 percent the last time the Quinnipiac University
poll surveyed this race October 26.

Brown is viewed favorably 42 - 26 percent, while 69 percent of Ohio voters have not
heard enough about Mandel to form an opinion. Brown gets a 47 - 34 percent job approval from
the voters, who by an almost identical 48 - 33 percent margin say he deserves another term in the
Senate.

"Sen. Sherrod Brown is in good shape for reelection, but 30 percent of voters say they
don't have an opinion about him, and an even greater number say the same thing about his
challenger. Mandel is pretty much an unknown to most Ohio votes and the race will be
determined by whether Mandel's ability to fill in the blanks in voters' minds positively exceeds
Brown's ability to do so about him negatively," said Quinnipiac's Peter Brown, who is not
related to the candidate.

On another legislative matter, voters support 68 - 28 percent a ban on private ownership
of exotic animals in the state. Support is strong among all groups.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman has a 39 - 25 percent job approval rating.

From January 9 - 16, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,610 registered voters with a
margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia
and the nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

12. If the election for United States Senator were being held today and the candidates were Sherrod Brown the Democrat and Josh Mandel the Republican, for whom would you vote?

TREND: If the election for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates were Sherrod Brown the Democrat and Josh Mandel the Republican, for whom would you vote? (2011 wording referenced "2012 election")

39. Some people say there should be drilling for natural gas and oil in Ohio because of the potential economic benefits, others say there should not be drilling for natural gas and oil in Ohio because of the potential environmental impact. Which comes closer to your point of view?

42. Energy companies want to practice hydro-fracking in Ohio. Hydro-fracking is the process of pumping water and chemicals into the ground under high pressure to fracture rocks. This releases oil and natural gas trapped in the rocks which is then collected. Do you think hydro-fracking will cause environmental damage or not, or don't you know?